Be oh-so-cautious about voice-to-text

When I worked as principal at an elementary school, I used to remind our staff (and myself) that we need to be certain we keep private conversations private.  In other words, when the secretaries and I had to discuss a student or a parent in the front office, we had to be so cautious about what we said and how loud we said it because inevitably, while we were speaking, anyone could walk right in to the front office, hearing everything we said.

On another communication note, however, it is also important to remember to check over what we type before pressing send.  How cool was it when we found the app for voice-to-text?  Mine works like a charm, for texts or emails, and I use it all the time, particularly while I am on the go-----in a car while a NYC driver is driving me to the airport at breakneck speed, only to slam on his brakes before he plows into the car in front of us.  Oh wait....this post is not about the stress of getting to the airport in rush hour traffic in NYC.  It's about voice-to-text.  I digress......

The gal who schedules trainings for us had emailed me about a training and I was emailing her back saying, "Maybe I should do the one in Phoenix, since it is closer to my home in Tucson than the training scheduled at the same time in NYC."  I then went on to talk about how  I would have had experience with a Native American group and would therefore feel comfortable doing the next Native American group, should she need me to do it.

What I said was "I would be happy to do that one instead of NY since I will have just had experience with the other one so recently." What the hard of hearing voice-to-text app heard was, "I would be happy to do that one instead of NY since I will have just had sex with the other one so recently."   WHAT?????

Luckily (oh-so-luckily, I might add), even while the car in which I was riding was about so slam into the car in front of us on the George Washington Bridge, I had the foresight to glance down just in time before pressing SEND.   

"Not SEX! Experience!" I shouted into the phone.

"Excuse me?"  the driver asked, swerving slightly on the insanity that is NYC traffic.

"No, no, no......never mind", I told him as I saw obedient voice-to-text type in "No, no, no never mind" on my screen.

Great, I thought.  It translates incorrectly what I need put into the phone but translates impeccably what I do NOT want it to record.  

Proof positive that we need to check our work and watch our language in all we say verbally as well as in email and text.  

Just for today, take a moment to check over your emails and texts before pressing send.  It will save you heartache, I promise.

Happy Communicating.  

Shelly